There we are in Phase D, in something like, perhaps, persistent vegetative state.
Modern medicine, however, has created a third option, the persistent vegetative state.
But what about patients who are not awake and in a vegetative state?
This might be a persistent vegetative state with no possibility of turning it on, even in principle.
It was only last year that MRI scans revealed some patients in a permanent vegetative state were still actually conscious!
There are big differences. Inglis's son was in a vegetative state, so she can't claim she was fulfilling his desire to die.
This is a so-called pseudolaminar necrosis of the cerebral cortex that is typical of a patient in a persistent vegetative state who is on life-support systems.
All had been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state - a condition where a person is awake, but has no sense of awareness of themselves or their surroundings.
But what about patients who are not awake and in a vegetative state? How can doctors determine if those people are conscious and aware?
The incidence rate of severe disability, vegetative state and death were significantly lower than those of the control group, the differences between two groups were significant(P
Sadly, in my work outside of the RHN I meet many patients who have never had a proper assessment and have been wrongly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state.
Dr. Tononi is now collaborating with Dr. Steven Laureys of the University of Liège in Belgium to test his theory on people in persistent vegetative states.
